February 11, 2025 • 27 mins
It's World Radio Day this week on February 13 and to celebrate Sam is catching up with a couple of guests to speak about this year's theme, Radio and Climate Change: A Powerful Tool for Climate Action.
Kicking off the show we hear from ABC radio emergency broadcast lead Theresa Rockley-Hogan, who speaks about why radio is so important to keep people informed about their environment and how they keep their messaging accessible.
You'll also hear from Vision Australia lead policy advisor Bruce Maguire, who tells us about the latest research Vision Australia has been doing to inform the wider public and decision makers about the impact climate change has had and continues to have on the lives of people who are blind or have low vision.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:13):
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host Sam Colley.
S2 (00:23):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
and low vision.
S3 (00:30):
Along the way, we hope to scoop your listeners up
as well and give them the information that they need
to help them. You know, without the references that we
sighted people have of being able to look at a
map or whatever. So we are quite mindful of those
particular needs. And it really accessibility to emergency warnings is
a key kind of underlying theme that we like to
(00:51):
be mindful of in our day to day work.
S2 (00:52):
Welcome to the program. This week on Talking Vision. We're
celebrating World Radio Day coming up on the 13th of February, 2025,
and this year's theme is Radio and Climate Change. And
in that vein, it's my great pleasure to welcome two
guests on to the program this week. Theresa Hogan from
(01:17):
ABC radio and Bruce McGuire, the lead policy advisor from
Vision Australia, to have a chat with me about how
climate change intersects with the needs of people who are
blind or have low vision. So without further ado, I
hope you enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. World
(01:44):
Radio Day on the 13th of February is a date
proclaimed by Unesco to celebrate radio broadcast, improve international cooperation
among radio broadcasters, and encourage decision makers to create and
provide access to information through radio. And the theme of
(02:04):
World Radio Day 2025. Is radio and climate change a
powerful tool for climate action? As the world faces the
growing challenge of climate change, radio remains a vital medium
for spreading awareness, educating audiences and encouraging collective action and
(02:25):
to speak with us about all these things and more.
It's my great pleasure to be joined by ABC emergency
broadcast lead Theresa Hogan. Theresa, welcome to Talking Vision. Thanks
so much for your time.
S3 (02:41):
Lovely to be with you, Sam.
S2 (02:42):
Now, Theresa, what we might start off with today is
a little bit of a chat about emergency services. ABC
emergency services, the work that they do and the sort
of things that they cover.
S3 (02:58):
Yeah, sure. So I'm one of the emergency broadcast leads
for the ABC. There are two of us, sometimes called
Eb1 and Eb2. My colleague Pat. Hello, Pat. And so
what we are responsible for is coordinating the emergency coverage
across the ABC. But primarily radio is the key platform
for our emergency broadcasting messages. And there's a few reasons
(03:20):
to that. And I can go into that more later
if you like. But you know, what we are doing
is broadcasting official messaging from fires, floods, storms, cyclones, tsunamis,
you know, any event where people's lives or property could
be at risk within Australia. So that's probably the simplest
summary that I can give you. Our work is to
(03:42):
help them, give them information to make decisions that could
save their lives.
S2 (03:47):
And I'd love to hear some more details about that
and why radio is so important. So let's focus in
on that from an ABC emergency broadcast perspective. Why do
you believe the ABC emergency broadcasts are so important for
people around Australia. Really?
S3 (04:09):
Well, radio's been around for a long time, hasn't it? So.
Certainly 100 years in some places. Coming up to. And, um,
you know, for Australia we have these this the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation has this great network of really powerful transmitters,
including some that have been in place since World War two.
They were built after that and they can boom into
(04:31):
communities across the country. ABC radio can reach 95% of
the population of Australia. So, you know, there are a
couple of areas where the population is a bit thin
that maybe transmission is not so great, but for the
bulk of Australians, we know that they can hear the
ABC radio when there's something going on that might be
(04:51):
impacting on their homes, their families or them. So the
emergency broadcasting role for the ABC has grown as climate
change has taken its impact, and we're seeing more and
More and more impacts of fires and floods. You know,
just at that, at this moment, you know, in the
past few weeks, we've seen emergency events kind of across
(05:13):
the country, particularly for Queensland and Victoria and Western Australia. Um,
so people in those communities need a constant flow of
reliable information that they can tune into to make their decisions.
Do they leave if they're in a fire prone area?
Do they know there's a flood coming and they can
expect water to, you know, potentially enter their homes? Can
they make preparations? You know, sometimes things move really fast
(05:35):
and they have to move fast. And so what we
do is often break in to programming. If there's local programming,
it's part of that. So if you were doing a
local program in Townsville in the last few weeks, for example,
ABC Radio North Queensland, they were very busy giving lots
of messages to their communities to help them through the
flood and storm event that was going on. But sometimes
(05:57):
the emergency team will jump in over the top of
a national program, for example, and break in to give
an urgent fire or storm or flooding message. So there
are a couple of ways that we can break in.
But I guess the important thing for the listeners to
know is that if they tune to their local ABC
and there's something affecting them at a at a fairly
(06:17):
high level, you know, we can reliably be there to
give them that information.
S2 (06:22):
And that's a key word there, Teresa. Of course, reliability.
And it's that reputation that the ABC emergency Broadcast services
have built up over the past few decades. And as
you've mentioned, that goes back almost a century now, which is,
you know, testament to how central it has become to
the Australian experience, the way that radio, you know, has
(06:47):
played such a central role in providing informative coverage of
the environment around them. And that's, you know, the key
word there, informing.
S3 (06:57):
Yeah, it's funny, with radio, we've been talking about how
it's been around for a long time and it's reliable.
But you know, these days not everybody has a radio.
For those of us who love radio and work in
it and understand it, it's all you know. It seems
a bit odd, but one of the emergency messages that
agencies will encourage in the lead up to summer, or
the high risk weather season, as they call it now,
(07:18):
is for people to make sure they've got a battery
powered radio. So, you know, if you've been living in
an area affected by a serious flood or a fire,
often one of the first things that goes is your power.
And now, because all of our phones are connected to
the internet, we lose our communication so suddenly, no internet,
and often no phone or very sketchy phone. And, you know,
(07:38):
so all of our information sources that we've been used
to relying on are gone. And people, you know, need
to know that they that the radio is still there,
that will be broadcasting as best we can and sharing
that information. So it's a good thing to remind people
that radio is their reliable source of information, and that
we will be here and on other platforms as well.
You know, social media, TV, digital stories, their Facebook, but radio.
(08:02):
That's why I said right at the start is our
key platform for the for the emergency broadcasting role that
we have at the ABC.
S2 (08:09):
That's exactly right. A radio is ever present. It's reliable.
It's there. You have a battery powered radio. You can
take that anywhere. Doesn't rely on electricity, doesn't rely on internet.
And so I think that's why it has persevered well
into the 21st century as we become so ever connected.
And I think that's why radio is still cut through.
S3 (08:31):
That's pretty robust, isn't it? To survive.
S2 (08:33):
Absolutely. Yeah, certainly. And, um, you know, remote areas, as
you were talking about for sure. And I guess we've
spoken a bit about the reliability of, you know, portable radio.
It's it's free of internet. It's free of the limitations
of power. Say your power goes out, your internet goes out,
but you still have a radio. And as long as
(08:55):
you've got some working batteries, you can take that anywhere
you want. And that's ever more important as we deal
with the effects of climate change and the extremes of
weather with fire, floods, etc. that do have such a
massive impact on these utilities. So against the backdrop of
(09:15):
World Radio Day, do you think that's what really sees
radio cut through as such an important medium, even against
the ever connected society that we live in now?
S3 (09:27):
Yeah, I love the theme of World Radio Day this year,
radio and climate change. And, you know, it just underlines
the work that we do on radio and being there
in unstable times, on a surface, on a platform that
is stable is, as you say, Sam, ever more important.
And the emergency broadcasting role, I think for the ABC
and community broadcasters, we're not the only ones who are
(09:49):
delivering an emergency broadcast service on radio, but perhaps we've
got more resources than some. And I think our role
is will continue to expand. I started in the EB
lead role for the ABC in about 2017. I moved
over as a chief of staff. I was a journalist
and a radio presenter in the day And now we
have a permanent team of 10 to 12 people. And
(10:09):
that often doubles in summer. Or like I was saying,
they call it the high risk season in the official
agencies these days. So that period when we're expected to
be able to respond to a threat is increasing. Like,
I'll give you an example. This morning at 523, my
phone went, I'm on call at the moment because that's
part of my role. And it was the Queensland Police
(10:30):
Service letting me know about a flash emergency flood that
was happening sort of in a remote area of Queensland,
but certainly covered by one of our far northern transmitters.
And we were able to get radio warnings to air
pretty quickly. You know, I feel like that damage was
possibly unexpected for that community. They were getting storms, but
the storm just didn't stop. It kept raining, and then
they were getting flash flooding and and the next moment
(10:50):
houses were needing to be evacuated and there were rescues underway. So,
you know, being able to respond to that level of
threat is important for us, as well as some of
the longer term impacts of the massive fires that we've
had in Victoria this summer, really threatening those communities over
a over a long, long period. Some people have been
without power for up to a week. And, um, you know,
(11:12):
that causes trouble when you're losing power that long.
S2 (11:14):
Yeah, certainly. In terms of our context and where we're
coming from on Vision Australia Radio and the services we
provide to people with print disabilities and people who otherwise
wouldn't be able to get information from visual sources like
being able to, you know, read a newspaper or read
(11:37):
online articles or check the app on their phone, which
says in your area there is a bushfire or a flood.
And that's also where radio comes in and provides interconnection
for those people with disabilities, such as blindness and low
vision who do rely on auditory feedback. And that's where
(11:58):
radio comes in. And I think that's where it's really
important as well, isn't it?
S3 (12:02):
And we're very mindful of those listeners who have special
needs and who are relying on us to give reliable information.
But one of the really cool things is that when
we make a warning more accessible, so often we'll take
a very long warning from a fire agency or the
Bureau of Meteorology, or even the State Emergency Service. You know,
they have lots of detail in them, and they can
(12:23):
be long and sort of bit long winded. They have
lots of statements in them that are generic about, you know,
not standing under trees when a lightning storm is about or,
you know, not entering floodwaters, but the actual specific information
can often be a little bit agency speak for want
of a better term. So a bit over complicated. A
few too many words. So what the ABC team that
(12:45):
I'm part of try to do is cut through that
and really focus on the key messages, what's happening and
what do I need to do. And that helps everybody.
So that's pretty cool. Now not just those who are
visually impaired or blind. So along the way, we hope
to scoop your listeners up as well and give them
the information that they need to help them, you know,
(13:06):
without the references that we sighted people have of being
able to look at a map or whatever. So we
are quite mindful of those particular needs. And it really
accessibility to emergency warnings is a key kind of underlying
theme that we like to be mindful of in our
day to day work.
S2 (13:22):
Finally, before we wrap up, I just want to focus
in on the work that you're doing to keep the
coverage informative, keep it factual, especially against all the other
potential media, that there may not be all the facts,
or there might be a bit of disinformation or misinformation
(13:42):
flying around, especially with regards to climate change. Weather extremes
and all that sort of thing, and keeping it objective
and keeping it factual. That's especially important, so important.
S3 (13:56):
So crucial when when there's a community that's under threat.
It's very easy for people who sometimes unintentionally, but sometimes
it is intentional to To misinform or to create panic
or worry. For example, that water supplies could be threatened.
Or that the local supermarkets are going to run out
of water and toilet paper. We saw that during Covid,
(14:17):
but I can guarantee you that almost every time there's
a cyclone threat for some of our communities in North Queensland,
the first things that disappear off the shelf are water
and toilet paper. So we need people to be calm
and understand that there's enough for everybody. And the ABC
takes its editorial responsibilities really seriously, and it's great to
be part of that. Wider guidelines and editorial guidance where
(14:39):
we fact check we don't go on air unless it's
an official warning. We don't allow people to speculate and
cause panic unnecessarily if we can help it at all.
So those things are really a key sort of area
that we like to be across. You know, there's been
lots of pictures floating around in the last few weeks
around the flooding and fire events. There was an image
of a water tank in the middle of the Bruce
(14:59):
Highway that I saw the other day. You know, this
is a major highway, and suddenly there's one of those
big green water tanks. And here's this image. So there
was quite a bit of activity in the background of
the ABC to make sure that we could verify that
that was true. And it was. But it took a
bit of time because images like that can not only
be shock factor and interesting, but they can cause people
(15:20):
to worry. How are they going to get through that highway?
Was it blocking their way home or to pick the
kids up from school? You know, so sometimes people are
innocently exploiting an image or, you know, something that they've
heard and it can cause harm. So we need to
be really mindful of presenting things factually and clearly and
using official sources for information.
S2 (15:40):
Certainly. Well, Theresa, it's been great to chat with you today.
Thank you very much for your time. That was Theresa Hogan,
the ABC emergency broadcast lead, chatting with me today in
the lead up to World Radio Day, coming up on
13th of February. Theresa, thank you again for your time.
(16:03):
It was great to catch up with you and have
a chat.
S3 (16:05):
Happy world radio Day.
S2 (16:06):
Happy world radio day.
S3 (16:08):
Thanks, Sam. Anytime.
S2 (16:15):
I'm Sam Corley, and you're listening to Talking Vision on
Vision Australia Radio. Associated stations of Reading Radio and the
Community Radio Network. I hope you're enjoying this special World
Radio Day episode of Talking Vision. That was Theresa rockley
(16:35):
Hogan there from ABC radio. If you missed any part
of that interview with Theresa or you'd love to hear
it again. Talking vision is available on the podcast app
of your choice or through the Vision Australia library. You can,
of course, also find the program on the Vision Australia
(16:56):
Radio website. Simply head to RVA radio.org. That's RVA radio
all one word.org. With the ever present threat of climate
change and a range of other disasters posing challenges for
wider society. Over the past few years, the impact of
(17:18):
these on members of the blind and low vision community
cannot be understated. And that's where our next guest comes in.
His name is Bruce McGuire, and he's the lead policy
advisor from Vision Australia, who in recent years have conducted
a series of research projects around Covid 19 and the
(17:42):
response to natural disasters, presenting evidence based research to improve
the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Bruce,
thank you very much for your time. Welcome back to
Talking Vision.
S4 (17:57):
Thanks, Sam. It's great to be back. It's always good
to be on talking vision, talking about, you know, whatever
we want to talk about as issues come and go
and stay the same.
S2 (18:06):
Exactly right. But today we're talking about some research that
Vision Australia has recently conducted in a number of areas.
Starting off with Covid, there's been quite a few responses
and quite a bit of research done in that field.
S4 (18:25):
Yes, that's right Sam. We did two major surveys during
the acute stages of the Covid 19 pandemic. They were
in 2020 and 2021. And the results of those surveys,
I guess, reinforced what we already knew about the lack
of involvement and consideration of how the pandemic was affecting
(18:49):
people with disability, but also also more generally about how
emergency preparedness by all levels of government was failing to
consider the needs of people with disability during other kinds
of natural disasters, such as floods and bushfires and other
extreme weather events that are being driven by factors such
(19:09):
as climate change.
S2 (19:11):
Bruce, I'd love to go into a bit more about
that emergency preparedness and the impact it has had on
people who are blind or have low vision. Or more broadly,
just people with disabilities. So we did a little bit
of research into natural disasters, but let's expand on that
a bit.
S4 (19:32):
Yeah. Well, we contributed to a study that was done
by the Disability Royal Commission into Emergency responses to both
the Covid pandemic and also the floods in northern New
South Wales and Queensland in in early 2022. And so
we did a little bit of research around how people
(19:53):
who are blind or have low vision were affected by
those floods. And the things we found were kind of consistent,
I suppose, with what we'd found with Covid. That is
one of the biggest problems that people have in any
kind of natural disaster, be it a pandemic like Covid
or weather disasters such as floods, is getting access to
(20:13):
enough and accurate information. A lot of the information, certainly
during the Covid pandemic, was displayed in in visual form,
such as graphs and charts and distributed in accessible sort
of formats through sort of social media. And one of
(20:33):
the things we found was that the floods was people
found it difficult to get access to accurate information, for example, about,
you know, where there were road closures due to the floods.
They got some generic information through the media, but it
was hard to drill down into that and sort of say, well,
is the road near me closed, or is it a,
you know, how many roads that I can walk to
are closed, sort of things like that. So it's that
(20:57):
access to information that I think is one of the
critical things that affects people who are blind or have
low vision.
S2 (21:02):
I guess expanding on that point about discerning Information and
what is fact and what is opinion or misinformation? When,
for instance, in the midst of these natural disasters, things
like power goes out, internet is no longer available, people
still have their radio, and that's things like ABC radio
(21:24):
and the importance those have for keeping information accessible. But
have you had any sort of feedback about accessibility of
information in terms of that component?
S4 (21:36):
Not specifically. I guess the thing that's really important is
that people have ways of getting information in the event of,
as you mentioned, you know, a power failure. And it's
it's important. I think as the internet has become more
and more relied on for, you know, for information, be
it web, radio, you know, news websites such as the
(21:58):
ABC and, you know, things like that, that traditional forms
of information distribution such as radio have become a little
less popular. And yet, if you're without power for four
days and there's no internet, there's no television, then how
are you going to get information? And of course, one
of the best ways of doing that is to have
(22:19):
a battery powered radio. And I think as we get
more and more of these extreme weather events and there's
more unpredictability in, you know, the stability of the power
grid and things like that, it is important that people
think about where are they going to get their information from?
I mean, if you're in a flood or a bushfire
and you've got no power, it may not be safe
(22:41):
for you to leave your house and go to the
neighbour next door to ask them what they've heard. So
you're there, you're isolated. How are you going to get
your access to information? You might or might not still
have a mobile phone? How are you going to charge
that mobile phone if you can still use it? And
do you have a battery powered radio? Have you got
(23:01):
batteries for it? So I think we we all have
to start thinking more about some of these things, because
even those of us who live in metropolitan areas are
not immune from, you know, from some of these things.
There was a wild storm in Sydney recently where I live,
and some people close to me were without power for
a day. So even that can be quite difficult if
you need to get information and you don't have a
(23:23):
backup plan.
S2 (23:24):
Certainly. And for some interested to hear about what yourself
and Vision Australia are interested in looking into in the,
I guess, short term and longer future in regards to
these sort of issues around, you know, natural disasters, climate change,
(23:46):
the impact that's having and is projected to continue to
have on people who are blind or have low vision.
What sort of jumping out for you as some areas
of interest that would perhaps be looking into in the future?
S4 (24:05):
Well, one of the things that happened as a as
a result of the Disability Royal Commission's work in this
area was that the National Disability Strategy, which as a
whole of government initiative that goes from 2021 to 2031,
developed a targeted action plan looking at emergency management. And
the key thing about that was that it is supposed
(24:26):
to have people with disabilities involved in all levels and
at all stages of emergency management, preparedness and response. And
one of the things that includes is a focus on
accessible communications and information. So we're very keen to see
if that plan is making a difference both now and,
(24:46):
you know, as time goes on. One of the things
we're really interested in is getting feedback from people about
their experiences during natural disasters, such as fires and floods.
You know what? Things are working well, what things aren't
working well, because we can then feed them back that
feedback back into To the national Disability Strategy process and
(25:10):
hopefully make a difference to the way the emergency response
management develops, and so that it's fully inclusive and it
addresses the needs that particularly our community of people who
are blind or low vision have.
S2 (25:22):
Well, we follow all of that with great interest as always. Bruce,
thank you as always for your time today. That was
Bruce McGuire, their lead policy advisor from Vision Australia. Catching
up with me to chat about Vision Australia's latest research
in not only Covid 19, but more broadly in terms
(25:46):
of natural disasters and their impact on people who are
blind or have low vision. Bruce, thank you so much
for your time today. It was great to catch up
with you again for a chat on Talking Vision.
S4 (26:00):
Thanks, Sam. It's always, always good to be on the program.
S2 (26:09):
And that's all the time we have for today. You've
been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
So please get in touch anytime on our email at
Talking Vision at Australia. Org. That's talking vision all one
(26:34):
word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's Sam
Kerley saying bye for now.
S1 (26:44):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 384 746. That's one 384 74
six or by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.
S5 (27:02):
Org.
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host Sam Colley.
S2 (00:23):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
and low vision.
S3 (00:30):
Along the way, we hope to scoop your listeners up
as well and give them the information that they need
to help them. You know, without the references that we
sighted people have of being able to look at a
map or whatever. So we are quite mindful of those
particular needs. And it really accessibility to emergency warnings is
a key kind of underlying theme that we like to
(00:51):
be mindful of in our day to day work.
S2 (00:52):
Welcome to the program. This week on Talking Vision. We're
celebrating World Radio Day coming up on the 13th of February, 2025,
and this year's theme is Radio and Climate Change. And
in that vein, it's my great pleasure to welcome two
guests on to the program this week. Theresa Hogan from
(01:17):
ABC radio and Bruce McGuire, the lead policy advisor from
Vision Australia, to have a chat with me about how
climate change intersects with the needs of people who are
blind or have low vision. So without further ado, I
hope you enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. World
(01:44):
Radio Day on the 13th of February is a date
proclaimed by Unesco to celebrate radio broadcast, improve international cooperation
among radio broadcasters, and encourage decision makers to create and
provide access to information through radio. And the theme of
(02:04):
World Radio Day 2025. Is radio and climate change a
powerful tool for climate action? As the world faces the
growing challenge of climate change, radio remains a vital medium
for spreading awareness, educating audiences and encouraging collective action and
(02:25):
to speak with us about all these things and more.
It's my great pleasure to be joined by ABC emergency
broadcast lead Theresa Hogan. Theresa, welcome to Talking Vision. Thanks
so much for your time.
S3 (02:41):
Lovely to be with you, Sam.
S2 (02:42):
Now, Theresa, what we might start off with today is
a little bit of a chat about emergency services. ABC
emergency services, the work that they do and the sort
of things that they cover.
S3 (02:58):
Yeah, sure. So I'm one of the emergency broadcast leads
for the ABC. There are two of us, sometimes called
Eb1 and Eb2. My colleague Pat. Hello, Pat. And so
what we are responsible for is coordinating the emergency coverage
across the ABC. But primarily radio is the key platform
for our emergency broadcasting messages. And there's a few reasons
(03:20):
to that. And I can go into that more later
if you like. But you know, what we are doing
is broadcasting official messaging from fires, floods, storms, cyclones, tsunamis,
you know, any event where people's lives or property could
be at risk within Australia. So that's probably the simplest
summary that I can give you. Our work is to
(03:42):
help them, give them information to make decisions that could
save their lives.
S2 (03:47):
And I'd love to hear some more details about that
and why radio is so important. So let's focus in
on that from an ABC emergency broadcast perspective. Why do
you believe the ABC emergency broadcasts are so important for
people around Australia. Really?
S3 (04:09):
Well, radio's been around for a long time, hasn't it? So.
Certainly 100 years in some places. Coming up to. And, um,
you know, for Australia we have these this the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation has this great network of really powerful transmitters,
including some that have been in place since World War two.
They were built after that and they can boom into
(04:31):
communities across the country. ABC radio can reach 95% of
the population of Australia. So, you know, there are a
couple of areas where the population is a bit thin
that maybe transmission is not so great, but for the
bulk of Australians, we know that they can hear the
ABC radio when there's something going on that might be
(04:51):
impacting on their homes, their families or them. So the
emergency broadcasting role for the ABC has grown as climate
change has taken its impact, and we're seeing more and
More and more impacts of fires and floods. You know,
just at that, at this moment, you know, in the
past few weeks, we've seen emergency events kind of across
(05:13):
the country, particularly for Queensland and Victoria and Western Australia. Um,
so people in those communities need a constant flow of
reliable information that they can tune into to make their decisions.
Do they leave if they're in a fire prone area?
Do they know there's a flood coming and they can
expect water to, you know, potentially enter their homes? Can
they make preparations? You know, sometimes things move really fast
(05:35):
and they have to move fast. And so what we
do is often break in to programming. If there's local programming,
it's part of that. So if you were doing a
local program in Townsville in the last few weeks, for example,
ABC Radio North Queensland, they were very busy giving lots
of messages to their communities to help them through the
flood and storm event that was going on. But sometimes
(05:57):
the emergency team will jump in over the top of
a national program, for example, and break in to give
an urgent fire or storm or flooding message. So there
are a couple of ways that we can break in.
But I guess the important thing for the listeners to
know is that if they tune to their local ABC
and there's something affecting them at a at a fairly
(06:17):
high level, you know, we can reliably be there to
give them that information.
S2 (06:22):
And that's a key word there, Teresa. Of course, reliability.
And it's that reputation that the ABC emergency Broadcast services
have built up over the past few decades. And as
you've mentioned, that goes back almost a century now, which is,
you know, testament to how central it has become to
the Australian experience, the way that radio, you know, has
(06:47):
played such a central role in providing informative coverage of
the environment around them. And that's, you know, the key
word there, informing.
S3 (06:57):
Yeah, it's funny, with radio, we've been talking about how
it's been around for a long time and it's reliable.
But you know, these days not everybody has a radio.
For those of us who love radio and work in
it and understand it, it's all you know. It seems
a bit odd, but one of the emergency messages that
agencies will encourage in the lead up to summer, or
the high risk weather season, as they call it now,
(07:18):
is for people to make sure they've got a battery
powered radio. So, you know, if you've been living in
an area affected by a serious flood or a fire,
often one of the first things that goes is your power.
And now, because all of our phones are connected to
the internet, we lose our communication so suddenly, no internet,
and often no phone or very sketchy phone. And, you know,
(07:38):
so all of our information sources that we've been used
to relying on are gone. And people, you know, need
to know that they that the radio is still there,
that will be broadcasting as best we can and sharing
that information. So it's a good thing to remind people
that radio is their reliable source of information, and that
we will be here and on other platforms as well.
You know, social media, TV, digital stories, their Facebook, but radio.
(08:02):
That's why I said right at the start is our
key platform for the for the emergency broadcasting role that
we have at the ABC.
S2 (08:09):
That's exactly right. A radio is ever present. It's reliable.
It's there. You have a battery powered radio. You can
take that anywhere. Doesn't rely on electricity, doesn't rely on internet.
And so I think that's why it has persevered well
into the 21st century as we become so ever connected.
And I think that's why radio is still cut through.
S3 (08:31):
That's pretty robust, isn't it? To survive.
S2 (08:33):
Absolutely. Yeah, certainly. And, um, you know, remote areas, as
you were talking about for sure. And I guess we've
spoken a bit about the reliability of, you know, portable radio.
It's it's free of internet. It's free of the limitations
of power. Say your power goes out, your internet goes out,
but you still have a radio. And as long as
(08:55):
you've got some working batteries, you can take that anywhere
you want. And that's ever more important as we deal
with the effects of climate change and the extremes of
weather with fire, floods, etc. that do have such a
massive impact on these utilities. So against the backdrop of
(09:15):
World Radio Day, do you think that's what really sees
radio cut through as such an important medium, even against
the ever connected society that we live in now?
S3 (09:27):
Yeah, I love the theme of World Radio Day this year,
radio and climate change. And, you know, it just underlines
the work that we do on radio and being there
in unstable times, on a surface, on a platform that
is stable is, as you say, Sam, ever more important.
And the emergency broadcasting role, I think for the ABC
and community broadcasters, we're not the only ones who are
(09:49):
delivering an emergency broadcast service on radio, but perhaps we've
got more resources than some. And I think our role
is will continue to expand. I started in the EB
lead role for the ABC in about 2017. I moved
over as a chief of staff. I was a journalist
and a radio presenter in the day And now we
have a permanent team of 10 to 12 people. And
(10:09):
that often doubles in summer. Or like I was saying,
they call it the high risk season in the official
agencies these days. So that period when we're expected to
be able to respond to a threat is increasing. Like,
I'll give you an example. This morning at 523, my
phone went, I'm on call at the moment because that's
part of my role. And it was the Queensland Police
(10:30):
Service letting me know about a flash emergency flood that
was happening sort of in a remote area of Queensland,
but certainly covered by one of our far northern transmitters.
And we were able to get radio warnings to air
pretty quickly. You know, I feel like that damage was
possibly unexpected for that community. They were getting storms, but
the storm just didn't stop. It kept raining, and then
they were getting flash flooding and and the next moment
(10:50):
houses were needing to be evacuated and there were rescues underway. So,
you know, being able to respond to that level of
threat is important for us, as well as some of
the longer term impacts of the massive fires that we've
had in Victoria this summer, really threatening those communities over
a over a long, long period. Some people have been
without power for up to a week. And, um, you know,
(11:12):
that causes trouble when you're losing power that long.
S2 (11:14):
Yeah, certainly. In terms of our context and where we're
coming from on Vision Australia Radio and the services we
provide to people with print disabilities and people who otherwise
wouldn't be able to get information from visual sources like
being able to, you know, read a newspaper or read
(11:37):
online articles or check the app on their phone, which
says in your area there is a bushfire or a flood.
And that's also where radio comes in and provides interconnection
for those people with disabilities, such as blindness and low
vision who do rely on auditory feedback. And that's where
(11:58):
radio comes in. And I think that's where it's really
important as well, isn't it?
S3 (12:02):
And we're very mindful of those listeners who have special
needs and who are relying on us to give reliable information.
But one of the really cool things is that when
we make a warning more accessible, so often we'll take
a very long warning from a fire agency or the
Bureau of Meteorology, or even the State Emergency Service. You know,
they have lots of detail in them, and they can
(12:23):
be long and sort of bit long winded. They have
lots of statements in them that are generic about, you know,
not standing under trees when a lightning storm is about or,
you know, not entering floodwaters, but the actual specific information
can often be a little bit agency speak for want
of a better term. So a bit over complicated. A
few too many words. So what the ABC team that
(12:45):
I'm part of try to do is cut through that
and really focus on the key messages, what's happening and
what do I need to do. And that helps everybody.
So that's pretty cool. Now not just those who are
visually impaired or blind. So along the way, we hope
to scoop your listeners up as well and give them
the information that they need to help them, you know,
(13:06):
without the references that we sighted people have of being
able to look at a map or whatever. So we
are quite mindful of those particular needs. And it really
accessibility to emergency warnings is a key kind of underlying
theme that we like to be mindful of in our
day to day work.
S2 (13:22):
Finally, before we wrap up, I just want to focus
in on the work that you're doing to keep the
coverage informative, keep it factual, especially against all the other
potential media, that there may not be all the facts,
or there might be a bit of disinformation or misinformation
(13:42):
flying around, especially with regards to climate change. Weather extremes
and all that sort of thing, and keeping it objective
and keeping it factual. That's especially important, so important.
S3 (13:56):
So crucial when when there's a community that's under threat.
It's very easy for people who sometimes unintentionally, but sometimes
it is intentional to To misinform or to create panic
or worry. For example, that water supplies could be threatened.
Or that the local supermarkets are going to run out
of water and toilet paper. We saw that during Covid,
(14:17):
but I can guarantee you that almost every time there's
a cyclone threat for some of our communities in North Queensland,
the first things that disappear off the shelf are water
and toilet paper. So we need people to be calm
and understand that there's enough for everybody. And the ABC
takes its editorial responsibilities really seriously, and it's great to
be part of that. Wider guidelines and editorial guidance where
(14:39):
we fact check we don't go on air unless it's
an official warning. We don't allow people to speculate and
cause panic unnecessarily if we can help it at all.
So those things are really a key sort of area
that we like to be across. You know, there's been
lots of pictures floating around in the last few weeks
around the flooding and fire events. There was an image
of a water tank in the middle of the Bruce
(14:59):
Highway that I saw the other day. You know, this
is a major highway, and suddenly there's one of those
big green water tanks. And here's this image. So there
was quite a bit of activity in the background of
the ABC to make sure that we could verify that
that was true. And it was. But it took a
bit of time because images like that can not only
be shock factor and interesting, but they can cause people
(15:20):
to worry. How are they going to get through that highway?
Was it blocking their way home or to pick the
kids up from school? You know, so sometimes people are
innocently exploiting an image or, you know, something that they've
heard and it can cause harm. So we need to
be really mindful of presenting things factually and clearly and
using official sources for information.
S2 (15:40):
Certainly. Well, Theresa, it's been great to chat with you today.
Thank you very much for your time. That was Theresa Hogan,
the ABC emergency broadcast lead, chatting with me today in
the lead up to World Radio Day, coming up on
13th of February. Theresa, thank you again for your time.
(16:03):
It was great to catch up with you and have
a chat.
S3 (16:05):
Happy world radio Day.
S2 (16:06):
Happy world radio day.
S3 (16:08):
Thanks, Sam. Anytime.
S2 (16:15):
I'm Sam Corley, and you're listening to Talking Vision on
Vision Australia Radio. Associated stations of Reading Radio and the
Community Radio Network. I hope you're enjoying this special World
Radio Day episode of Talking Vision. That was Theresa rockley
(16:35):
Hogan there from ABC radio. If you missed any part
of that interview with Theresa or you'd love to hear
it again. Talking vision is available on the podcast app
of your choice or through the Vision Australia library. You can,
of course, also find the program on the Vision Australia
(16:56):
Radio website. Simply head to RVA radio.org. That's RVA radio
all one word.org. With the ever present threat of climate
change and a range of other disasters posing challenges for
wider society. Over the past few years, the impact of
(17:18):
these on members of the blind and low vision community
cannot be understated. And that's where our next guest comes in.
His name is Bruce McGuire, and he's the lead policy
advisor from Vision Australia, who in recent years have conducted
a series of research projects around Covid 19 and the
(17:42):
response to natural disasters, presenting evidence based research to improve
the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Bruce,
thank you very much for your time. Welcome back to
Talking Vision.
S4 (17:57):
Thanks, Sam. It's great to be back. It's always good
to be on talking vision, talking about, you know, whatever
we want to talk about as issues come and go
and stay the same.
S2 (18:06):
Exactly right. But today we're talking about some research that
Vision Australia has recently conducted in a number of areas.
Starting off with Covid, there's been quite a few responses
and quite a bit of research done in that field.
S4 (18:25):
Yes, that's right Sam. We did two major surveys during
the acute stages of the Covid 19 pandemic. They were
in 2020 and 2021. And the results of those surveys,
I guess, reinforced what we already knew about the lack
of involvement and consideration of how the pandemic was affecting
(18:49):
people with disability, but also also more generally about how
emergency preparedness by all levels of government was failing to
consider the needs of people with disability during other kinds
of natural disasters, such as floods and bushfires and other
extreme weather events that are being driven by factors such
(19:09):
as climate change.
S2 (19:11):
Bruce, I'd love to go into a bit more about
that emergency preparedness and the impact it has had on
people who are blind or have low vision. Or more broadly,
just people with disabilities. So we did a little bit
of research into natural disasters, but let's expand on that
a bit.
S4 (19:32):
Yeah. Well, we contributed to a study that was done
by the Disability Royal Commission into Emergency responses to both
the Covid pandemic and also the floods in northern New
South Wales and Queensland in in early 2022. And so
we did a little bit of research around how people
(19:53):
who are blind or have low vision were affected by
those floods. And the things we found were kind of consistent,
I suppose, with what we'd found with Covid. That is
one of the biggest problems that people have in any
kind of natural disaster, be it a pandemic like Covid
or weather disasters such as floods, is getting access to
(20:13):
enough and accurate information. A lot of the information, certainly
during the Covid pandemic, was displayed in in visual form,
such as graphs and charts and distributed in accessible sort
of formats through sort of social media. And one of
(20:33):
the things we found was that the floods was people
found it difficult to get access to accurate information, for example, about,
you know, where there were road closures due to the floods.
They got some generic information through the media, but it
was hard to drill down into that and sort of say, well,
is the road near me closed, or is it a,
you know, how many roads that I can walk to
are closed, sort of things like that. So it's that
(20:57):
access to information that I think is one of the
critical things that affects people who are blind or have
low vision.
S2 (21:02):
I guess expanding on that point about discerning Information and
what is fact and what is opinion or misinformation? When,
for instance, in the midst of these natural disasters, things
like power goes out, internet is no longer available, people
still have their radio, and that's things like ABC radio
(21:24):
and the importance those have for keeping information accessible. But
have you had any sort of feedback about accessibility of
information in terms of that component?
S4 (21:36):
Not specifically. I guess the thing that's really important is
that people have ways of getting information in the event of,
as you mentioned, you know, a power failure. And it's
it's important. I think as the internet has become more
and more relied on for, you know, for information, be
it web, radio, you know, news websites such as the
(21:58):
ABC and, you know, things like that, that traditional forms
of information distribution such as radio have become a little
less popular. And yet, if you're without power for four
days and there's no internet, there's no television, then how
are you going to get information? And of course, one
of the best ways of doing that is to have
(22:19):
a battery powered radio. And I think as we get
more and more of these extreme weather events and there's
more unpredictability in, you know, the stability of the power
grid and things like that, it is important that people
think about where are they going to get their information from?
I mean, if you're in a flood or a bushfire
and you've got no power, it may not be safe
(22:41):
for you to leave your house and go to the
neighbour next door to ask them what they've heard. So
you're there, you're isolated. How are you going to get
your access to information? You might or might not still
have a mobile phone? How are you going to charge
that mobile phone if you can still use it? And
do you have a battery powered radio? Have you got
(23:01):
batteries for it? So I think we we all have
to start thinking more about some of these things, because
even those of us who live in metropolitan areas are
not immune from, you know, from some of these things.
There was a wild storm in Sydney recently where I live,
and some people close to me were without power for
a day. So even that can be quite difficult if
you need to get information and you don't have a
(23:23):
backup plan.
S2 (23:24):
Certainly. And for some interested to hear about what yourself
and Vision Australia are interested in looking into in the,
I guess, short term and longer future in regards to
these sort of issues around, you know, natural disasters, climate change,
(23:46):
the impact that's having and is projected to continue to
have on people who are blind or have low vision.
What sort of jumping out for you as some areas
of interest that would perhaps be looking into in the future?
S4 (24:05):
Well, one of the things that happened as a as
a result of the Disability Royal Commission's work in this
area was that the National Disability Strategy, which as a
whole of government initiative that goes from 2021 to 2031,
developed a targeted action plan looking at emergency management. And
the key thing about that was that it is supposed
(24:26):
to have people with disabilities involved in all levels and
at all stages of emergency management, preparedness and response. And
one of the things that includes is a focus on
accessible communications and information. So we're very keen to see
if that plan is making a difference both now and,
(24:46):
you know, as time goes on. One of the things
we're really interested in is getting feedback from people about
their experiences during natural disasters, such as fires and floods.
You know what? Things are working well, what things aren't
working well, because we can then feed them back that
feedback back into To the national Disability Strategy process and
(25:10):
hopefully make a difference to the way the emergency response
management develops, and so that it's fully inclusive and it
addresses the needs that particularly our community of people who
are blind or low vision have.
S2 (25:22):
Well, we follow all of that with great interest as always. Bruce,
thank you as always for your time today. That was
Bruce McGuire, their lead policy advisor from Vision Australia. Catching
up with me to chat about Vision Australia's latest research
in not only Covid 19, but more broadly in terms
(25:46):
of natural disasters and their impact on people who are
blind or have low vision. Bruce, thank you so much
for your time today. It was great to catch up
with you again for a chat on Talking Vision.
S4 (26:00):
Thanks, Sam. It's always, always good to be on the program.
S2 (26:09):
And that's all the time we have for today. You've
been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
So please get in touch anytime on our email at
Talking Vision at Australia. Org. That's talking vision all one
(26:34):
word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's Sam
Kerley saying bye for now.
S1 (26:44):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 384 746. That's one 384 74
six or by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.
S5 (27:02):
Org.
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